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Chapter 29
Around the Drain Marquis’ estate, swarming with creatures.
Right next to it was the Saber territory.
“There’s a high chance they’ll stop by here, right?”
Her thoughts once again began stretching in the direction she wanted.
After fighting the creatures, they must be exhausted and looking for a place to rest.
Since I told them to come to the survival camp, and it’s nearby, they’ll naturally come here, right?
Yes, they definitely will.
Ah, now is not the time for this. A guest was coming to the camp after a long time, so she needed to get the situation in order as best as she could—and take care of herself too.
She didn’t want to look incompetent in front of another person who had possessed someone.
Anna faced the current state of the camp after a long time.
She saw people lying around with broken limbs. Bruises of all colors covered their skin.
“Ah… what do I do?”
It already felt too late. How did it get this bad?
Her hands began trembling.
The kind smile of Hanson flashed through her mind. She wanted to see him.
After a brief hesitation, Anna did something she hadn’t done in three months.
She gathered the patients in one place and provided them with all the care she could. She slowly organized the chaotic camp and gently calmed James down, softening his temper.
A few days later.
“Hello, I’m Anna Brown. Just call me Anna.”
“Yes, okay. I’m Lariana Bellot. You can call me Lia.”
The meeting Anna had longed for had finally happened.
Fortunately, Anna could convincingly play the role of the camp’s second-in-command. She also subtly showed that she cared about the camp.
After that, she relaxed a little.
For the first time in a while, they talked about ‘Korea,’ excitedly chattered like an ordinary twenty-two-year-old girl, and Anna even shared stories about Hanson, which she hadn’t been able to tell anyone.
Everything went as she had hoped.
Until Lia asked that question.
“Do you really think this survival camp is okay as it is?”
Lia’s question was not simple.
It painfully struck at the reality Anna wanted to avoid the most.
“…What do you mean?”
Anna tried to pretend she didn’t understand, but Lia asked again, looking her in the eyes.
“You know what I mean.”
Anna’s face flushed as if her worst secret had been exposed.
Lia had been in this survival camp for less than a day—she had only taken a single tour.
Even she realized how disastrous it was.
Hearing the truth from someone in a similar situation felt humiliating to Anna. She wanted to run away.
So she left as if fleeing.
“What am I even doing?”
She had finally met another person who had possessed someone. It wouldn’t change anything even if she avoided it. They would meet again soon anyway.
How could she face Lia’s eyes again?
Her chest felt tight. Sharp pangs of regret stabbed her. She wanted to cry.
Lia’s skill was ‘healing.’ She could help others, but she had difficulty protecting herself.
Seeing Lia tending to the wounded, seeing the lost goodness in herself reflected in Lia, Anna recalled her own state when she first possessed this body.
“What was I like back then…?”
“Hanson, this is abnormal! People are dying! This can’t happen!”
She had certainly been kinder than she was now.
Every action of Lia made Anna remember her own former self.
It kept making her think.
So when Lia came back to provoke her a little more, she sincerely asked if they could stop here.
And she poured out everything.
It wasn’t a simple problem. The emotional rift was deeper than Lia thought.
…It was already too late.
But.
“Anna!”
Lia shouted.
“You know what nonsense you’re talking about, right?”
Those words pierced through Anna. Thinking vaguely was one thing, hearing it out loud was another. It felt like a heavy tray had hit her head.
“If we leave it like this, the camp will be wiped out. You know that, right?”
“…Yeah.”
She knew it better than anyone.
“You said you’d survive. For the sake of those who sacrificed themselves for you, at least.”
That’s right.
“Yeah.”
…Yes.
Even though she had said it herself, she only realized the meaning now.
“Then change it. Your half-hearted attitude, this camp. Lia, Isis, and I will help you.”
A helping hand was extended. She felt tears welling up.
Only after being thoroughly shaken by Lia’s words did she remember what Hanson had said to her.
‘Hanson told you in the end: survive. Live as you want.’
From the very beginning, when Anna had just started adjusting to this world after possessing this body, she had thought about one thing.
“I want to change this camp.”
But… it was too late. Could it really be undone?
Hanson, could it really be done?
Anna looked at Lia’s trembling hand, noticing the offer of help.
If she rejected it, would she ever get another chance?
…No.
It would never come again.
She took a deep breath. This was the last chance she had. What she could not accomplish alone, there would never be another willing helper.
Anna steeled her resolve and spoke.
“…Okay.”
Three months had passed since Hanson died.
Three months of time that had stopped for her finally began moving again.
Back to the present.
Anna swallowed dryly, her fists clenched tightly in tension.
She was about to undertake a crucial task:
To formally challenge James in front of everyone in the camp, to subdue him.
Yes, that was the ‘role’ Lia had assigned to her that morning.
“This is something we can’t help with. Anna must do it herself. Only then can the people trust and follow you even after we leave. Only then can you lead this camp on your own.”
“But challenging James to a duel…”
“You agreed to cooperate with us. You knew this moment would come eventually.”
“…True.”
Anna, hesitant at first, finally nodded under Lia’s persistent persuasion.
She was right.
This was necessary for Anna to become the head of the camp instead of James.
No one could do it in her place.
By defeating the former leader, she would gain the legitimacy to lead this survival camp as the new head.
It was the most important task she had to accomplish, requiring great courage.
Though she had a complicated feeling for James, they had formed a bond, and in a sense, it was also betraying him.
But now that she had decided.
“Dream big, they say.”
Yes. She would try.
Anna stood up on the spot, walking toward James with her shoulders back, confident as if she were the most accomplished person in the world.
“I stopped midway, but this was what I wanted from the start.”
One step.
“I will finish this myself.”
With each step, her resolve strengthened. Today, she would change this camp!
“…Anna? Do you have something to say?”
James, sensing her gaze, tensed up.
Stopping in front of him at last, she looked him directly in the eyes and said without wavering:
“I, Anna Brown, formally challenge James Shale to a duel.”
“…!”
Anna had declared it according to the Empire’s formal method of dueling, taught to her directly by Hanson long ago.
